Weekly Zeitgeist
Welcome back, bloggernauts. It’s been a fun week, though one largely without heated controversy or argument. Oh well.
Behold what ye have wrought!
- Bob Caswell posts on R-rated movies, spawning a slough of comments. Only one commonality unites the commenters: Ben Affleck sucks rocks.
- Ronan joins BCC. Speculation abounds as to who will be next! I’ll give you a hint.
- Geoff Johnston tests out the Bloggernacle’s Emergency Prayer Roll System, with great success. Huzzah!
- Heather P. posts Part Three of her ongoing series regarding Eve, clearly gunning for the Bloggernacle cage-match title of Smartest Blogger of All Time.
- Grasshopper at Millennial Star shows us that we have no idea what we’re doing when we say the Church is True.
- Hugh Nibley passes away. His departure trumps all other blog posts, spawning tributes everywhere. Justin B’s postis particularly moving.
So what conclusions may we draw regarding the Bloggernacle, based on this week’s harvest? Hugh Nibley surpasses us all, even in death; we are forming a community of trust and respect, though we have no idea what that means; and we still treasure deep and obscure doctrines. What the heck is going on?? I can only hope that this week will see a return to in-fighting, snarkiness and ignorance, or else the Bloggernacle as we know it has come to an end. This week’s Zeitgeist winner was (*sob*) The Millennial Star, hitting four out of the five major themes of the week. BCC, whom I predicted to win, largely missed out on the Hugh Nibley wave and thus failed to grasp the golden ring. The Top 5 themes this week were:
- Hugh Nibley,
- Freemasonry,
- Stoic doctrinal review,
- Community-building, and
- Women in the Church.
This week I predict a return to more snarkiness and political division, despite strained efforts at community-building. I also predict that we shall closely examine Mormon cultural practices and skewer them appropriately. Thus, I predict next week’s winner shall be BCC.
Which did we miss out on? Stoic doctrinal review? Hey, I love the Stoics. I’ve been meaning to do a comparison of Stoic philosophy at the time of Christ with Mormon theology. (Seriously) If I do it next week, can we do a clean sweep?
Comment by Clark Goble — February 28, 2005 @ 10:54 pm
Clark, it takes more than checking off the boxes to win the Zeitgeist. It takes a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. Millennial Star stumbled upon it last week — who knows if they shall ever rediscover its wonder.
Comment by Steve Evans — March 1, 2005 @ 6:58 am
Steve,
Your bias is coming through, my friend. After all, I can think of a blog which featured:
(1) a Hugh Nibley post on February 23rd, the day before Nibley passed away — a post which was in full swing with dozens of comments at the time Nibley’s death was announced;
(2) a few subsequent Nibley posts, including a great collection of quotes, and a ton of comments;
(3) two posts about community building — perhaps the only two posts about community building in the ‘nacle this week (one of which was touted by one Steve Evans);
(4) plus, a rolicking good discussion of kidneys for sale.
Also, I have my doubts as to whether a solitary post at BCC qualifies for the #2 topic. Now, if it were a post about selling your kidneys, maybe.
So I know it’s your game and all, but come on — you can only give so many positive reviews to Speed 2 before you’re going to be written off as an unreliable critic.
Comment by Kaimi — March 1, 2005 @ 7:55 am
I’ll admit, Kaimi, that it’s tougher for T&S to hit the Zeitgeist than any other blog. Your monolithic site impedes its ability to tap in to the collective unconscious of the Bloggernacle. Yes, ultimately you shape the way all of us think, since we all link to you and we all read you; but this is not the same thing as capturing the true spirit of the Nacle.
That said, your post on community-building was a good one, and would have made the list were it not sandbagged by a bunch of hack commenters.
Comment by Steve Evans — March 1, 2005 @ 8:20 am
Besides, Kaimi, you should read my post a little more carefully: BCC didn’t win this week. Millennial Star, a site that I can hardly claim to identify with, seized the title. So before you question my impartiality, perhaps you’d best try to explain away that little item.
Comment by Steve Evans — March 1, 2005 @ 8:24 am
Steve Evans, you are too generous in your assessment of me. Posting quotes has got to be the easiest way to blog, a cop out in a way. I don’t have to come up with anything witty or insightful myself. However, I must say that I am pleased to make it into the Times. Thanks for the compliment and the exposure!
Comment by Heather P. — March 1, 2005 @ 1:22 pm
Heather, I figured it was just a way to get you to answer your emails
Comment by Steve Evans — March 1, 2005 @ 3:01 pm